Verdicts and Settlements

$60.9 Million Verdict for Brain-Injured Baby

Led by partner Deborah J. Gander, the firm in 2005 obtained $60.9 million in injury compensation, the largest amount ever awarded in a Federal Tort Claims Act case in the country. Federal Judge Jose A. Gonzalez found the Obstetrics Clinic in Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida, liable for medical negligence in the delivery of a brain-injured baby.

Our class action team achieved a $100 million settlement from Service Corporation International (SCI), a national funeral company, and its subsidiary, Menorah Gardens Cemetery. The case alleged that the companies buried families in the wrong graves, and the company agreed to compensate for the families’ grievances and provide in-kind services.

Lion Air Flight 610 Update: Investigators Release Preliminary Crash ReportOn October 29, 2018, a Lion Air flight traveling from Jakarta, Indonesia to Pangkal Pinang crashed into the Java Sea after experiencing a flight control problem minutes after departure. There were no survivors. The Republic of Indonesia’s Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) recently published a preliminary report about Lion Air ...

NHTSA Investigates General Motors Over Faulty Braking SystemAccording to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), more than 2.7 million General Motors (GM) vehicles could be affected by deteriorating brake assist vacuum pumps. After receiving 111 complaints about 2014, 2015 and 2016 truck and SUV models, NHTSA has launched an ...

Marriott Discloses 500 Million Guests Affected by Starwood’s Database HackAccording to Marriott’s press release, Starwood’s guest reservation database was hacked. On September 8, 2018, Marriott International received an internal alert about an unauthorized user attempting to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Since then, investigators found copied and encrypted information from an authorized user. ...

How Is The VW Recall Going To Affect Consumers?

Numbers for the third quarter are in, and Volkswagen has lost $1.83 billion due to the recent defeat device scandal. With many people still playing the blame game, and no word yet on a fix for the defeat device problem, how is the VW recall going to affect consumers who bought their cars?

Why Will The Volkswagen Recall Be Difficult To Handle?

It is very hard to build a diesel engine that runs cleanly. Many automakers worldwide have tried to take advantage of the diesel engine’s fuel efficiency while cleaning up emissions, but these carmakers have found very little success. This is why the VW TDI engine was so revolutionary. It apparently succeeded in making a diesel engine that was both economically and environmentally friendly, but that was all a lie.

How Will Volkswagen Fix The Problem?

Automotive experts have come up with several theories as to how the German automaker could fix this problem. The first method is adding a urea-system to the car. This system would spray a catalyst into the car’s exhaust that would help break down problematic Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) molecules. However, systems like this are heavy, expensive, and would require vehicle owners to regularly refill an extra tank on their car.

The other option—which experts believe is the better solution—is to reprogram the TDI computer control units to run in the environmentally friendly mode that fooled EPA testers. This would be less expensive than the urea-system, but it could come at a high price for vehicle owners. The computer adjustment might rob TDI cars of their power as well as their fuel economy.

No matter the solution, TDI owners can expect the value of their cars to drop significantly. For more information, visit our VW recall page, and keep following our blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages for more updates as they develop.

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(*) Disclaimer: All verdicts and settlements listed here are gross amounts before deductions for attorney fees and costs. Past results do not guarantee similar results in the future. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.